HRH Grand Duke Jean;
Credit: Cour grand-ducale/Jochen Herling
Due to the national mourning of His Royal Highness Grand Duke Jean, several events have been postponed or cancelled in Luxembourg.
In Luxembourg City, all concerts and events planned in Place d'Armes between now and 4 May 2019 inclusive (the day of Grand Duke Jean's official funeral) are cancelled. In addition, the Luxembourg City Charity Run scheduled for 27 April has been cancelled, whilst the Duck Race planned for that same day has been postponed until 18 May 2019. Similarly, the DKV Urban Trail scheduled for 28 April will now take place on 12 May 2019, whilst the Tramsmusék Gala planned for 30 April will take place on 11 May 2019 instead.
The State Visit of His Excellency Jorge Carlos Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cape Verde, and First Lady Lígia Dias Fonseca to the Grand Duchy, scheduled for 7 to 9 May 2019, has also been postponed to a later date.
The opening of the "special needs" exhibition at the Grand Théâtre (30 April) is similarly cancelled, as is the round table organised by the association "Nëmme mat eis!", the bi-weekly market in Place Guillaume II, the flea market in Place d'Armes and the open day of the Conservatoire de la Ville de Luxembourg, all originally planned for 4 May 2019. In addition, the European elections awareness campaign organised by the Ville de Luxembourg and the OLAI and the permanence of the "Etat civil" are cancelled on this day.
In a similar vein, Special Olympics Luxembourg has decided to cancel all its activities (training as well as the international swimming meet in Bettembourg) on Saturday 4 May, the day of Grand Duke Jean's funeral. The association has attributed this as a sign of respect for the Grand Ducal family and their consistent support for the Special Olympic Luxembourg's actions.
Regarding the Luxembourg Sustainability Forum, organisers IMS Luxembourg have announced that the forum will go ahead as scheduled but will be held without the presence of officials in this context of national mourning.
In addition, as part of this national mourning, the Luxembourg Ministry of Education, Children and Youth invited teachers to discuss the life of the late Grand Duke Jean and his role in Luxembourg. The Ministry has also announced that school flags will be flown at half mast until 4 May inclusive, there will be no school activities on the day of His Royal Highness' funeral, including music classes and courses for the acquisition of the Luxembourg nationality and music exams set for 4 May will be postponed. The training courses of the National Education Training Institute (IFEN) as well as the thesis defences of trainee primary school teachers and secondary school open days scheduled for that day will also be postponed.
Luxembourg will remain in a state of national mourning until 18:00 on 4 May 2019.
